The states hold the key to Chris Bowen’s energy transition dreams

Execution of the plan will depend on the co-operation of a group of sometimes hard-to-please energy ministers.

Samantha HutchinsonNational reporter

Feb 10, 2024 – 5.00am

Subscribe to gift this article

Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.

Already a subscriber?

If Chris Bowen has a singular vision for the country’s energy transition, execution of that plan will rely on the co-operation of – and perhaps some compromise with – a coterie of occasionally hard-to-please state energy ministers.

But there are early foundations for consensus. Wall-to-wall Labor governments on the mainland means Bowen has a natural advantage in negotiations coming into the first meeting of state energy ministers which will be held in South Australia within weeks.

Samantha Hutchinson is the AFR's National Reporter. Most recently, she was CBD columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Before that, she covered Victorian and NSW politics and business for The Australian, the AFR and BRW Magazine.